Archive for April, 2014

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Father Frank Pavone, National Director of Priests for Life, today announced that Rep. Tim Huelskamp of Kansas will join the #IStandWithPFL movement at a rally in Washington, D.C. on May 8. Fr. Frank also announced that the President of the National Right to Life Committee, Carol Tobias, has confirmed her attendance as well.

Supporters of religious freedom will gather in front of the U.S. Court of Appeals at 333 Constitution Ave., from 9 to 11 a.m. that day to show support for Priests for Life – and other religious non-profit organizations — in their legal challenge against the unjust contraception mandate. Oral arguments in the case will be heard that morning.

Robert Muise, Chief Counsel for the American Freedom Law Center, also stated, “This case with Priests for Life is the lead case for the non-profit religious organizations challenging the mandate similar to how Hobby Lobby is the lead case for the for-profit companies challenging the HHS mandate.”

A similar lawsuit filed by the Archdiocese of Washington. D.C., on behalf of Catholic University of America and Thomas Aquinas College, among other entities, has been consolidated with the Priests for Life suit. Priests for Life is the lead party.

Along with the congressman and Ms. Tobias, other confirmed speakers include Charmaine Yoest, Americans United for Life; Lila Rose, Live Action; Tim Goeglein, Focus on the Family; Paul Rondeau , American Life League; Sam Casey, Law of Life Project; Sarah Torre, Heritage Foundation; Tina Wittington, Students for Life of America; Jimmy Nolan, Crossroads; and Rev. Rob Schenk, Faith and Action in the Nation’s Capitol.

Father Pavone and Mr. Muise will also speak at the Rally, along with Dr. Alveda King, director of African-American Outreach for Priests for Life and a named plaintiff in the suit; Bryan Kemper, director of Youth Outreach, and Father Victor Salomon, director of Hispanic Outreach.

Father Pavone said the support of Congressman Huelskamp is critical. “We have been asking people to stand with Priests for Life as they are standing with Hobby Lobby as the fight against this government overreach continues,” Father Pavone said. “The support of Congressman Huelskamp is very important because it demonstrates that elected officials see the threat to religious liberty that this mandate poses. We are very happy to have Congressman Huelskamp standing with Priests for Life.”

Congressman Huelskamp, a Republican, was elected in November 2010. His commitment to the life issue was evident as early as his post-graduate years at American University, where he met his wife, Angela, and worked with her to assist women facing unexpected pregnancies. The couple are now the proud parents of four adopted children.

Priests for Life is the nation’s largest Catholic pro-life organization dedicated to ending abortion and euthanasia. For more information, visit www.priestsforlife.org.

Reflection: Baptism is a sacrament of welcome. God chooses us long before we choose, and all the chosen welcome each other. This is the exact opposite of the mindset of abortion, which ignores God’s choice, and says that we can choose not to welcome children into the community. Let’s thank God for baptism, and for life!

Prayer: Lord, thank you for choosing us. As a people made one by baptism, may we grow in the spirit of welcome, and rejoice in all those you continue to add to your chosen people and to the human family. Amen.

“If a state will pay for an abortion done for reasons of mental or emotional ‘health,’ then that state, in effect, will pay for any abortion. This is because worry and anxiety will be argued by some to fit this exception,” said Fr. Pavone. “Alaskans have every right to demand that the government not reach into their pockets to pay for abortions. Gov. Parnell is to be commended for protecting that right.”

The new law ensures that when the money of Alaska taxpayers is used for “medically necessary” abortions, as required by the state Supreme Court, abortions done for “mental health” reasons will no longer be deemed “medically necessary” and, thus, will no longer be financed by public funds.

Priests for Life is the nation’s largest Catholic pro-life organization dedicated to ending abortion and euthanasia. For more information, visit www.priestsforlife.org.

STATEN ISLAND, NY – Fr. Frank Pavone, National Director of Priests for Life, today congratulated the Alabama Supreme Court for its decision declaring that the term “child” in a state law includes the unborn.

“The Alabama Supreme Court has given us a decision that is almost unique – it uses common sense and logical consistency when talking about unborn children,” said Fr. Pavone. “In ruling that a child is a child whether born or unborn, the Alabama justices have cut through decades of tortured, twisted rationales and issued a national call for courts to recognize the obvious – all humans have the right to life.”

The Alabama Supreme Court held that a state statute prohibiting a child from being exposed to drugs or drug paraphernalia applied to both born and unborn children. The case had been brought by a woman who took illegal substances while pregnant and pleaded guilty to the chemical endangerment of a child. She argued that the statute only applied to a child who had been born.

Priests for Life is the nation’s largest Catholic pro-life organization dedicated to ending abortion and euthanasia. For more information, visit www.priestsforlife.org.

“And while they were in the field, Cain attacked his brother Abel and killed him.” (Genesis 4:8)

Reflection: The first murder in history was within the immediate family, brother killing brother. One of the reasons abortion and euthanasia are preeminent issues today is that those forms of killing likewise take place by one family member upon another. The family is the sanctuary of life. It should be the safest place. Without life, there cannot be family; without family, there cannot be life.

Prayer: Lord, have mercy on the families of our world. Fill them with the spirit of welcome and love, of nurture and protection. Amen.

STATEN ISLAND, NY – Fr. Frank Pavone, National Director of Priests for Life, today issued a statement encouraging North Dakota Attorney General Wayne Stenehjem to appeal the ruling of a district court judge who held that the state’s “heartbeat” abortion law violated Roe v. Wade.

“North Dakota led the states in courage and compassion when its lawmakers passed and Governor Jack Dalrymple signed legislation to protect babies with a detectable heartbeat,” said Fr. Pavone. “I was proud to be there in Bismarck, with pro-life activists from around the state, to thank the Governor and the legislator for those actions. That leadership is needed now to continue the defense of the heartbeat law and innocent lives. I earnestly hope that Attorney General Stenehjem will take his defense of the babies to the next step, the U.S. Court of Appeals.”

North Dakota’s “heartbeat” law, which was enjoined last year by federal Judge Daniel Hovland before it went into effect, would bar almost any abortion of a baby that’s found to have a detectable heartbeat.

Priests for Life is the nation’s largest Catholic pro-life organization dedicated to ending abortion and euthanasia. For more information, visit www.priestsforlife.org.

Reflection: On Holy Thursday, Jesus gave us the Eucharist, the Priesthood, and the commandment of charity. All are symbolized by his washing the feet of his disciples. We are to wash each other’s feet, to do what is unpleasant in order to serve one another.
Let us then recommit ourselves to loving and serving the least among us, the unborn children. Let us wash their feet by speaking up for them and working to restore the protection of their lives.

Prayer: Lord, I commit myself to serve my unborn brothers and sisters, just as you have served us. Amen.

NEW YORK, NY — Priests for Life has organized a rally for religious freedom from 9 to 11 a.m. on Thursday, May 8 at the Federal Courthouse at 333 Constitution Ave, Washington, D.C.

On that day, oral arguments will be heard in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit on Priests for Life vs. Department of Health and Human Services, the case of Priests for Life against the HHS mandate. Father Frank Pavone, National Director of Priests for Life, and Dr. Alveda King, Director of African-American Outreach, and niece of Martin Luther King, Jr., are two of the named plaintiffs in the suit. They will speak at the rally and attend the oral arguments. Janet Morana, Executive Director of Priests for Life and co-founder of the international Silent No More Awareness Campaign is also a plaintiff.

Joined with the Priests for Life case is also the suit brought against the HHS mandate by the Archdiocese of Washington. The Catholic University of America and Thomas Aquinas College are among the plaintiffs in that case as well.

The rally and a related social media campaign, #IStandWithPFL, is meant to call attention to the fact that the concerns of the religious not-for-profits have not been addressed by the Obama administration’s so-called “accommodation” to faith-based employers.

The oral arguments on May 8 are the first such arguments on the appellate level, on the merits of the case, for the religious non-profit groups challenging the mandate. The recent oral arguments at the Supreme Court for Hobby Lobby and Conestoga Wood address the rights of businesses in regard to the mandate. A victory in that case would not necessarily resolve the issues being argued on May 8 on behalf of the religious non-profit groups.

Along with Fr. Pavone and Dr. King, other national pro-life and religious liberty leaders also will speak at the rally, as will Robert Muise, Senior Counsel of the American Freedom Law Center, which represents Priests for Life in the lawsuit.

“We who are many are one body, for we all partake of the one bread” (1 Cor. 10:17).

Reflection: When we call each other “brothers and sisters,” we are not merely using a metaphor that dimly reflects the unity between children of the same parents. Our unity in Christ is even stronger than that, because we do have common blood: the blood of Christ! The result of the Eucharist is that we become one, and this obliges us to be as concerned for each other as we are for our own bodies.

Prayer: Lord, thank you for the unity which marks the Culture of Life. Amen!

“Take care that you do not despise one of these little ones, for I tell you that their angels in heaven gaze continually on the face of my heavenly Father” (Matthew 18:10).

Reflection: All of us, including the smallest children, have angels in heaven who are worshipping the Father and reflecting to us his care. If an angel is assigned to guard each human life, how much more are fellow human beings to avoid despising such lives!

Prayer: Lord, fill us with awe and reverence for life. Though we are not able to see the angels, remind us of their presence, too, through the face of every human person. Amen.